


As Good As

by Dana



Category: Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 21:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5681728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dana/pseuds/Dana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gene's obstinate on a good day, but the way he's overreacted to the suggestion of a bit of spring cleaning?  Is <i>cracked</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Good As

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xysabridde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xysabridde/gifts).



> Once upon a time, **Xys** gave me the following prompt: _Sam/Annie/Gene, convincing Gene of something_ It took me close to forever to finish, to make sure it was _right_ , and d'you know what? IT'S READY TO BE POSTED! I'm happy to be able to share it with the community at large today of all days, since it's the tenth anniversary of Life on Mars! This show has seriously changed my life in so many ways, I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND IT. I've met so many amazing people because of it! Here's to the next ten years as well, may they be bright. ♥
> 
> Beta by **Loz** , thank you so much for everything! ♥ Please blame any mistakes that slipped through on yours truly.

'It... there's still a lot of clutter in there, that's all.'

'We've the whole weekend free, and this is what you want to do with it?'

Sam shrugs. 'Spring only lasts so long. If we get a good start on it today, then it'll be over in no time...' He pauses, wincing. 'Well, it'll be over sooner rather than later – that's gotta count for something, right?'

Gene rolls his eyes and looks like he's ready to give one more wholehearted 'no', but Sam, sat beside him on the sofa, reaches out as if meaning to placate him with a touch, settling his hand on Gene's shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze. It works, strangely enough – Gene seems to have calmed down, at least a little bit more, giving an annoyed little huff, crossing his arms, and sagging back into the cushions. Gene talks big about not hitting ladies, but Annie's sure if she told him just how adorable he looks with _that_ put upon expression on his face, he'd end up changing his mind.

'It really isn't all that bad an idea, you know.'

'Hardly the best use of our time though, is it?'

Gene gives another little annoyed huff, and Sam's mouth relaxes into the faintest of grins. He gives Gene's shoulder one more squeeze, thumb stroking back and forth. 'Come on, it'll be alright – we'll do all the lifting and moving about, you can do the supervising. And nothing will get thrown out unless _you_ okay it. How does that sound?'

Annie knows it's all gone a bit cracked. Gene's obstinate on a good day, but he'd reacted to their suggestion of a bit of spring cleaning in the storage room with a bit more aggression than either of them had expected – he should have known it was coming, given the pains the room had caused them round Christmas. They'd expected _some_ resistance, of course – Gene's hard-headed, after all – but the shouting and the stomping about had been a bit much. They've only just got him to a point where he's finally beginning to calm down.

He really seems to be giving Sam's offer some thought. The way he's pouting makes him look even more adorable, stubbornly so – like a big kid – and Annie (because prudent doesn't even begin to cover it) knows she's going to have to keep that thought to herself as well.

'Gene, it doesn't have to be an issue. If you'd really rather not...'

Gene looks to the side, and Sam's staring right back at him. Gene tenses up – he might be ready for shouting again – but Sam gives his shoulder another squeeze, and he relents. The conversation that ends up happening is told in looks alone, and them not actually _saying_ anything at all. It ends as Sam gives Gene's shoulder one final squeeze – tighter than the others – before letting him go. Gene sighs loudly, and Sam's grinning all over again.

'You two can do the moving about, then,' Gene mutters, still sounding like he hates the idea completely, but he's budged just the slightest on the issue, which is a marvel in itself. 'But nothing gets thrown out unless I okay it – got it?'

Annie could laugh – Sam looks like he's just as tempted, Gene turning Sam's own words back on them both – but she smiles instead, and nods. She glances at Sam, who was already looking her way, and together they say: 'Got it, Guv.'

Looking back on the short history of their living together, it was a whole lot easier to persuade Gene to agree to let Sam and Annie move in with him, than it had been to get him to make a start on cleaning out the storage room. Her parents had their own reservations at first (about her moving in with Sam, and then with her and Sam moving in with their Guv), but that's really neither here nor there. No, today, it's all about _Gene_.

Of course, he had his own reservations – especially when it came to the storage room, though in specific there were plenty of them in regards to the three of them. He'd had them from the start. He doesn't just have a way of holding things in, apparently he's just as much a fan of _not_ letting things go, even if it's only decades old material goods (a lot of it, Annie's certain, that had to have belonged to his mum).

She gets that – she really does – but she also knows that this is one of those little life-building exercises that goes beyond all that. Gene might be making space in his storage room – and thus, the rest of his life – but it's room for the _three_ of them. He's got to understand that part of it – has to want it, and see how important it is for _them_ – or else he wouldn't be relenting at all, giving in where instead he could continue to stubbornly hold on. It's hardly out of character, Gene's as pig-headed as they come. And she reckons that, if it were her storage room they were planning on clearing out, and _her_ cherished memories that ran the risk of being chucked into the tip, she'd have some reservations of her own.

'Suppose it's settled then.' She gets up from the recliner, brushes her skirt down. 'I'll get us some water. Sam, you should probably open up the windows at the back of the room, just to get some air flowing. The boxes have done some shifting about since we were last in there, but with you a bit...' She makes a vague gesture with her hand.

'Scrawny?' Gene supplies helpfully.

Sam rolls his eyes and gives a huff of amusement.

'A bit on the thin-side, I'm sure you can squeeze right on through.'

Sam nods as he goes about unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt and rolling up the sleeves. 'Oh boy – doesn't that sound like fun.'

'Oi,' Gene growls, 'this was your idea in the first place, so let's keep the back-chat to a minimum, Gladys.'

Annie hides a smile as the two of them settle into one of their more well-worn sketches: fond bickering. They're like an old married couple already, and none of them have even spoken their vows.

She fetches the water, and Gene's filled himself a glass of whisky by the time she's made her way back into the living room. He's settled down onto the sofa, looking like the king of the place – which, admittedly, he is. He gives her a steady look, and she stares back with a smile. His lip twitches at the corner and he pats his knee, accompanied by a showy waggle of his eyebrows.

Annie giggles, shaking her head. 'Later – _promise_.'

He pouts, then waves her on towards the storage room with his free hand. 'Go on then, get to it. And don't break anything!' He settles back down, enjoying his position as supervisor. Annie winks and makes her way on over to the store room. She's out of the living room when Sam calls out: 'We'll be careful!'

Of course, then there's a sound of shattering glass from where Sam's hidden in the next room over, and Annie winces as Gene gives an annoyed bellow of rage, Sam's voice following directly after: 'Don't kill me, please, it was broken already!'

Annie ducks in to the dusty room, spots Sam a few steps in, stooped down and carefully picking at the pieces of broken glass, scattered amidst what looks like some very old sweets. It puts her in mind of the wrapped taffy her gran always used to bring her up from Brighton, just, much, _much_ older. Gran always thought she loved the stuff, and Annie never had the heart to tell her otherwise.

Sam's shaking his head at nothing in particular (other than, perhaps, the shock), and gives her a strained frown. 'Is he – oh.' She doesn't have to look back, she can feel Gene standing right behind her, the huff of his heated breath causing her hair to stand on end. Given how wide Sam's eyes have gone, fear and anticipation, Sam's obviously spotted him as well.

'It really was broken already, but... well, I didn't mean to let it fall.'

'I'll break you,' Gene hisses. 'What is it?'

Sam shrugs, picks up a piece of orange-brown glass, glazed with age, squinting at it as he frowns. 'Well, it _used_ to be a bowl.'

Annie, glasses of water in hand, feels like she's the only thing that's keeping Gene from leaping at Sam, in between the two of them as she is. 'It belonged to me mam!'

Sam winces. 'It was already broken!' He picks up one of the pieces of taffy. 'This thing is hard as a rock, I'm guessing it's probably decades old!' Gene's all but seething now, growling beneath his breath. Sam, however, goes on rather obliviously – the way he sometimes does, at least when it doesn't come to the job. 'You know, it's a bit sticky on the outside... probably the only thing that was keeping it together.'

Gene, though, is trying to drive home a point of his own. 'Doesn't matter! It belonged to me mam!' Annie winces, but doesn't budge.

'I don't suppose...' She begins, cut off as Sam gives an annoyed huff. He drops the piece of coloured glass, it hits the pile with a _plink_ , and he chucks the sweet he'd been clutching back down as well. He shifts back and reaches up to rub at his eyes and that's when Gene finally has enough, gives Annie a gentle enough push out of the way. 'Jesus Christ, Sam, be careful! You've just been holding glass, don't get it in your eyes!'

'I'm not going to get any glass in my eye! Gene – stop – ack!' Gene, not one to let bygones be bygones, yanks Sam up by the arm, Sam wincing as he gets jerked around and held in front of Gene while Gene gives his face a thorough once over. Annie finds that the mood has lightened – Gene's less likely to punch Sam in the face while he's fussing at him to make sure he's not done something daft like hurt himself, since Sam is so good at doing just that. Of course, she grins as she exits the room just long enough to set the water back out on the table in the hall. Sam's fussing right back at Gene as she makes her way back over, leaning against the door to watch as they sort themselves out.

'I'm okay!'

'You're okay when _I_ say you're okay!'

'You're taking this a bit too far, Gene – ouch! Stop twisting me about like that!'

'And once I say you're okay, I'm going to break you for having broken that! It belonged to my – '

'To your mum, I get it, I get it! I swear to you, it was broken already! Those sweets are a health hazard! And if you don't mind me saying, just once more, it was _already broken_!

'Alright then, this has gone far enough already, it's time we all calm down!'

Annie takes a step forward to drag them apart from one another – they're right up in each other's faces right now, red-cheeked from shouting, one grimacing and flashing teeth, the other simply scowling. They're so far away from _calm_ , it'd be funny if it wasn't so serious. They've been better about the entire 'hitting each other to solve their problems' business, lately, and she'd hate to see them fall back on it over something as silly as this.

Then, and it gives her such a moment of pause she simply stops what she's doing, the foot she'd had raised mid-step setting itself back down out of its own free will. Gene throws his head back and starts _laughing_ , staggering back several steps. Sam blinks, rubs at his cheek, and then starts sniggering.

'Oh my... God... Sam...' Gene doubles over, laughing harder and harder. 'You should've... the look on your... face...' He reaches up to wipe at his eyes, and now Sam's laughing just as hard as Gene is, dropping down to sit on one of the room's many boxes. 'All you needed to... to do was... start shouting about not having any evidence, and...'

Sam just nods at him. 'Yeah, I... yeah, I can't...' He laughs harder, wiping at his eyes just as Gene had done. 'God, what a... what a bad day that had been.' He wobbles, looks from Gene and back over to Annie, and Annie's confusion only grows.

'Got better though, didn't it?'

Sam nods at Gene, gives him the smallest smile. 'Yeah, it did.'

'I have no idea what's going on here – what am I missing?' She puts on her best annoyed frown, arms crossed over her chest. Sam's been fully taken by this attack of the giggles, and wipes at his face as he doubles over. He's nearly wheezing now, and Gene rolls his eyes as he goes over to give him three hard pats on the back.

'Right, it's not that funny, Gladys – get it all out.' He chuckles, though, as if he knows it's not true.

Sam, laughing helplessly now, shakes his head as he shrugs. Gene pats Sam on the back once more (even harder than before, this time Sam giving a startled little cough from the shock of it) before brushing off imaginary dust from his shirt (and clearly, given the state of the room, some real dust as well). Gene, gone flippant, shrugs as he brushes his own arms off. 'Nothing, petal – you needed to be there, that's all. Mind you,' he sighs, 'it wasn't funny at the time.'

'Hindsight,' Sam offers, somewhat helplessly.

'Yeah, some of that.'

Annie rolls her eyes, still just as annoyed. 'Well, I'll just go fetch the broom so we can start tidying this mess. '

Gene nods, gestures back towards the door. 'Switch off the telly while you're at it, and put on some music – but none of that screeching you and Sam seem to love so much.' He frowns. Sam's not laughing nearly as hard now, just giggling from time to time instead, his cheeks pink instead of burning red.

'You're... helping out here, then? I'm sorry, you know. It _was_ cracked, but I didn't mean to drop it.' He manages that without breaking back down into more helpless giggles, and Gene seems to accept it as being sincere.

'Right, whatever – apology accepted.' He raises one eyebrow at Sam, smirks. 'Someone needs to supervise the two of you – proper supervision, that is – and by the two of you, I mean _you_. I'll not have any more of my mam's treasured memories get smashed today just because you're feeling like a bastard and a fuss bucket.'

'Oh my God! That's _it_!' Sam pushes himself up from the box he'd been sitting down on. 'I told you, the bloody thing was broken already and – ' He wobbles about and Gene's there in a flash, catching him and crushing him to his chest as Sam blinks in surprise (he'd been just about ready to topple over into a pile of boxes, so Gene catching him was as much for his own good as... well, it was all for Sam's own good, really). 'Guv – '

He reaches up to ruffle Sam's hair, sighing fondly as he does. 'Oi – don't worry about it too much, Sammy-boy. Never really liked the taste of that taffy anyhow, though me mam thought I loved it.'

That's when it all catches up to her, and Annie throws back her head and finally, _finally_ , laughs.

–

The rest of the reorganising goes as planned: Sam's in dire need of a shower by the end of it, but the faded carpeting is visible – it's been years, Gene said at one point, wonder in his tone. There's fewer things being kept than Annie thought Gene would want to hold onto, which is eye opening in its own way. There's a fair stack that's needs to be relocated to the tip, in such bad disrepair that even a charity shop wouldn't take them. Then there's a pile that Sam's insisted on keeping, because one day they'll be 'vintage'. The smallest pile by far, just the one box on its own, is what Gene's allowing to go to charity.

Sam's not the only one who needs a good wash. An hour into it, Gene (out of the kindness of his own heart, no doubt – more likely, he thought Sam was being too slow) stood down from his position as supervisor in order to give Sam some direct assistance. Otherwise, it really might have taken the whole of the weekend. They're both sweaty and dirty now, absolutely covered in dust. Annie's not kept an eye on them the entire time, of course. Sam normally does the cooking, but she thought – just this once – he wouldn't mind a break, given that he'd been working hard on this instead.

Sam pats his trousers down and a small cloud of the stuff expands outwards. He sneezes, and Gene waves his hand in front of his face, coughing to clear his throat. Annie clears her throat too, not that she'd been in the direct line of fire – she's giving them both a very pointed look, and jabs an equally pointed finger in the direction of the stairs.

'You two – get a shower. I'll finish dinner – oh, and _play nice_.'

'Yes, ma'am,' Sam replies, and no wonder Gene calls him such a sarky little shit. Annie rolls her eyes and Gene swats Sam's arse as he swaggers on by. Sam almost but doesn't quite yelp, and it devolves into giggles instead.

'Ugh, don't do that again. Trouser's are all sweaty on the inside, it's chafing my poor arse.'

'Yes, your poor arse,' Gene chuckles – rather wickedly, actually. Sam's eyebrows shoot up in amusement, and Annie laughs and throws her hands up at the both of them, then gestures back towards the stairs.

'Or don't play nice – just, no more _fighting_ today, please? Go have your wash, dinner'll be waiting for you!' They give each other a look, which turns into a mutual exchange of smiles. Sam stomps up the stairs first, but Gene's quick to follow after. It gives her a moment of pause, but then she's smiling all over again. Her boys.

–

'How did you end up here, Cartwright?' She's talking to herself, which is one of Sam's quirks more than hers, but she's alone in the kitchen, the heart of Sam's domain, so she supposes it's fitting. She doesn't just mean what brought her to the kitchen, it's so much more than that. She was happy when Sam figured out how to ask her on a date. She was a bit more confused when Gene got added to the mix, but even that wasn't a _bad_ thing.

She grabs up the dishes she'd already grabbed down from the cupboard, walks around the corner to the dining room nook. They do keep things interesting, and that's the simple – if, at the same time, very complicated truth. Dating Sam had been complicated in its own way. How was she supposed to react when he let slip his feelings for Gene?

Not to have been so understanding, perhaps – but Annie's never really been good at these things. She's had boyfriends and then more boyfriends, but none of them have ever been like _Sam_.

But then, none of them had ever been like Gene either, had they?

That shouldn't be so telling, but of course, it's them – so it is. If that was the start, things have progressed rather nicely – for all her mum and dad had their reservations about her moving in with the both of them, Annie hadn't had a one.

She fits here, the way they fit together. She sees the way Sam loves Gene, how Gene tries when it comes to the both of them. She's lucky. They all are. Some people can go through life without finding love at all, and she's found a veritable bonanza.

–

There's stomping around upstairs, some laughter, muted some by space and distance and the floor that separates Annie from Sam and Gene, and then a long stretch of silence. Some more stomping leads to Sam taking the stairs down first, but Gene's right on his tail. She's just about to tell them to stop running about like a pair of very tall children, someone's bound to trip and fall, only then Gene catches her about the waist and picks her up, spinning her about. Annie squeaks, more in surprise than in protest, resting her hands against his chest as he gives her another spin.

He sets her down on her feet, and that's when he strikes. Gene's kisses always catch her off guard, and this one comes close to knocking her off her feet. 'Annie, petal, tell me one thing.'

'Hmm?'

She's blushing, it's gone down her neck, and it's burning in her chest. She hadn't even blushed like this when she'd imagined them at their wash – it gave her something else to think of, beyond making sure the veggies didn't burn. She's _seen_ them go at it. Then one of them, or the other – or, stars above, sometimes the both of them working in tandem – do something close to innocuous that really comes at her from out of left field.

Gene prods her nose gently with the tip of one finger, and Annie opens her eyes – when had she even closed them? 'Just between you and me, how do you put up with Boy Wonder over there?'

She can all but hear Sam rolling his eyes, and Annie grins, tapping Gene's chest. 'How do I put up with the both of you, is what what you meant to say?'

Gene ponders this, glances over at Sam, then back down at her. 'I honestly don't know how you do it.'

Another laugh bubbles up, and she pushes up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. 'Heyyy,' Sam complains, mock pout and all. 'All of this kissing is happening, and none of it's happening to me.'

'Bloody hell, gave you yours upstairs, didn't I?' Gene's hand darts out and he grabs Sam by the wrist, tugging him over. Sam surges forward, stumbles, but Gene catches him about the waist before he can trip – well, Sam crashes against him but Gene's a solid wall of a man, and that puts an end to that. He tips Sam's chin up, leaves his finger resting there. The kiss he sets on Sam's lips is endlessly chaste. Sam growls, which says a _lot_ , grabbing a hold of Gene's hair with one hand and resting his hand on Annie's arm with the other. The kiss that follows is not chaste at all.

But then, neither is the one that follows, as Annie takes Sam by the collar and jerks him over. He's smiling at the end of it, looking mostly dazed. 'That was lovely.' He leans his forehead against hers, running his hand down to the small of her back, tangling his fingers in the tie at the back of her vest. Even Gene is edging in closer, Annie's feeling their heat from both sides.

'Dinner first,' she says, and it works a right treat – Sam backs off, and Gene calls them both saps, but he's already making his way over to the table; she's mastered the art of making the most simple of things sound like the sweetest of threats, at least when she doesn't try.

Sam, though, stays behind, beaming at her brightly, not that she knows why. She smiles back at him, just because she can, squeezes his hand. She's tempted to ruffle his hair – it's always extra fluffy after it's freshly washed. But what Sam does next stops her in her tracks.

He tugs her hand up to his mouth, gently kisses the back of it. The blushing intensifies, and the look Sam gives her from beneath his lashes as he looks up from her hand, well, that's got her heart beating double-time.

'I'm going to eat this all meself if you don't hurry the bloody hell up!' Gene shouts from the next room. Sam rolls his eyes, and Annie giggles as, with her hand still entwined in Sam's, she tugs him in the direction of the dining room.

As good as they've got it, it can only get better – Annie won't accept anything else.


End file.
